Blue Ridge Parkway to step up radio telemetry enforcement

The Blue Ridge Parkway is increasing enforcement efforts against the illegal use of radio tracking equipment by hunters.

The only legal use of radio telemetry on the Blue Ridge Parkway is to assist hunters in retrieving dogs that are no longer actively engaged in a hunt. Using telemetry or other tracking devices to track dogs that are actively hunting or to monitor the progress of a hunt is considered a hunting activity and prohibited on Blue Ridge Parkway lands.

Blue Ridge Parkway regulations state: The open display and/or use of radio telemetry equipment or similar electronic tracking devices that are commonly used to track wildlife and hunting dogs is prohibited in the park without the prior permission of the Blue Ridge Parkway … and may only be used to expedite the retrieval of a dog that is believed to be running loose in the park.

The Naturalist's Corner

My family and I made a quick run up to Waterrock Knob on the Blue Ridge Parkway around dusk last Sunday (July 19) to get a peek at some celestial luminaries. Venus and Jupiter joined the waxing crescent moon on the western horizon. They danced and played hide and seek amidst layered clouds whose purple backs touched the night while their bellies bathed in the last yellow and orange rays of the sun falling over the western horizon. It was a beautiful, tranquil setting.